Poignant Books and Computer Games

Aidyn and I have been very sick this week. Although it has been difficult to fit activities in, we've tried our best. The other night, Aidyn and I took in a slew of heartwarming books. I had actually gone to the library without a pre-decided theme or list of books, and searched for some of my childhood favorites. I uncovered The Little House, Ten Apples Up on Top, Kellogg's version of Jack and the Beanstalk, I'll Teach my Dog 100 Words, and Go, Dog. Go!

Aidyn and I, sniffly-nosed, read these books together and talked about them. He had such poignant questions and observations about The Little House, a story about a strong, pink house built in the countryside who witnessed the rapid revolution of industry, motor cars, subways, tenement buildings, smoke, and unhappiness.

After reading Jack and the Beanstalk, I asked Aidyn, "so who do you think the 'bad' guy in the story was?"

Immediately (as most folks do), he replied, "The ogre. He was mean."

We then talked about other characters and their actions. I mentioned that Jack stole things from the ogre and took more than he needed. I asked him now, "who is the 'bad' guy?"

He had to think about this for a while. He recognizes that Jack did bad things, but he is set on the ogre being the 'bad' guy. He's much too young to explain this to (the negative connotations of the ogre's words, the heavy phonetic sounds, etc.), but one day we will revisit it and have quite a debate!

This week, we have also worked on Aidyn's computer skills. Through Suessville.com, we played several games that required the use of the mouse and arrow keys. After some practice, Aidyn became pretty adept at the task required. He even learned how to click on an image and drag it to a desired spot.

We fortunately stumbled on ShelSilverstein.com and played many matching games. When he completed the medium stage, he was awarded a Silverstein picture, which we promptly printed out.

YouTube Edu.

Despite us both being ill, Aidyn and I have been able to sneak in some learning time. Today we learned it YouTube style! Because we've been talking about the soon-to-be arriving season of spring, we watched several videos showing animals hatching from eggs. We viewed baby ducks, chicks, caterpillars, and even lizards being born. We also watched videos of the caterpillar-to-butterfly process to remind Aidyn about what we did last year.

In the next few days, I will be ordering caterpillars to raise and watch as they form chrysalises and emerge as butterflies. This simple yet sweet project has become a tradition in our household, and I see it as a signal of spring!

Storytime with Colds

For the last few days, Aidyn and I have been slammed by a cold. We're coughing, moaning, and generally feeling icky. However, the downtime has afforded us the opportunity to read books together.

Yesterday we cuddled on the couch and flew through a stack of wonderful books. We read Bunny Party by Rosemary Wells (Aidyn adores the Max and Ruby stories). Afterward we read The Story of Babar, a tale of an elephant who becomes king. Then we read and laughed to Kipper (Aidyn also adores this character). We finished off the reading session with Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McClosky. Aidyn and I both love his story, Blueberries for Sal, so I figured we couldn't go wrong with Ducklings. All were adorable stories shared in an adorable way. : )

Homeschool Hike--Caswell and the Stanislaus River

Early this afternoon, Aidyn and I took a quick trip to Caswell Memorial State Park to enjoy the sun with a nature hike. Armed with a new sketchpad and colored pencils, we explored the area. We stopped to listen to birds, watched squirrels skit around the tree branches, and inhaled the fresh foresty aroma.

After taking a new trail, we discovered a small beach where we plucked sticks from the ground and tossed them in the river. We talked about currents as we watched the sticks sail down the river. We sunk our fingers in the sand and dipped our hands in the icy water. Planting ourselves on the sand-hill, we doodled in our nature journal. I wrote down the cute observations Aidyn was making and he drew his representation of our view of the Stanislaus River. We also ran our hands down the bumpy trunks of trees and talked about bark, branches, and how trees start out as little seeds.

I'm definitely happy to welcome back warm, comfortable weather!

Forgot to Mention!

Supporting my wacky viewpoint that Disneyland can, in fact, be educational, the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln show brought the famous president to life in ways a textbook or myself could never do. Fittingly on Homeschool Day at the park, Aidyn, his grandma, and I browsed through the Disney Gallery and theater where the Lincoln show had finally been restored. We looked at old models, maps, and pictures of the Disneyland park from its inception in 1955 to the present. We even watched a video about the history of Disneyland and learned new things along the way.

Inside the room just outside the theater, we marveled at a grand model of the Capitol, busts of Abe Lincoln, and poignant portraits of events of his presidency and the weight of war. During the show, we gasped at how lifelike Mr. Lincoln appeared and felt like we had just sat in on one of his greatest speeches. According to the pre-show, Disney had exhaustively researched Lincoln, his mannerisms, and his idiosyncrasies. It was amazing.

Although Aidyn knows who Abraham Lincoln is, I understand that he didn't get the full effect of the show, but (fingers crossed) one day he will.

Just outside the theater, after watching the show, we strolled along the hallways. Each wall was dedicated to a certain ideal (Perseverance, Imagination, Courage, etc) and portraits of famous representatives hung on the walls. Walking through, I pointed out familiar faces to Aidyn and explained why they were hung there.

Needless to say, it was quite a neat little experience!

Math, Letters, and the Hope for Good Weather

Despite this being a crazy-busy, post-Disneyland week, we were surprisingly able to get some things done! During the morning, Aidyn and I played with his math manipulatives, practiced counting, adding, subtracting, and grouping by color. We also played with pretend money. Counting pennies, we worked on simple addition and subtraction. After explaining how a dime stands in place for ten pennies, we counted in tens, which was new for Aidyn. Once we counted to 100, I would hand him a pretend dollar. He suggested that he "buy" stuff, so he ran to his room to choose "merchandise" to put up for sale. He decided that he wanted to buy a truck for five dollars, so we counted out dimes in tens until reaching 100, five times. I'm so glad that he loves playing with math manipulatives and is using the pieces and information practically before he sees abstract addition problems.

We also have been working on his letters. Using our blue pocket chart with alphabet cards displayed on it, we sing the alphabet and point to each letter as we go. Then I have him playfully identify random letters. He usually gets 23/26 correct, and the other three he answers after hearing clues like the phonetic sound or what word starts with that letter, for example.

If the weather decides to get less miserable and wet, I would like to take Aidyn on a small hike to observe the trees, new buds, and saplings.

Branches, Bark and Buds

Week of March 1st

Adventures in Nature Theme: Branches, Bark and Buds